Irwin Bazelon: Symphony No. 1, Early American

Irwin Bazelon completed Symphony No. One in February, 1961 at the age of 38. A vigorous 30 minute statement full of vitality, swagger and confidence, the fingerprints of his future symphonies and a recognizable compositional sound are already evident. The composer abandoned the traditional four movement classical structure and in another bold stroke he reshaped and used standard jazz elements as his basic material. If American style jazz is the true American music, as is most commonly believed today, it is hardly a stretch to think of Bazelon's orchestral sounds as derived from American roots. Orchestrated for wind quintet and harpsichord, the Early American Suite is based on a score Bazelon wrote in the summer of 1965 for legendary documentary director Willard van Dyke. The concert version was completed in November-December the same year. The eight short movements of this charming suite reveal Bazelon as adept in miniature structures as he is formidable in his long-form symphonic works. The Suite from Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" was drawn from original theater music composed for John Houseman's American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford, Connecticut in 1959. Though completed in January of 1960, this recording is the first concert performance of the music.